Other Voting Issues

A number of other issues can come up for voters, either on or before Election Day. If a voter shows up and they are not on the rolls, for example, under federal law, they are allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted once the voter’s eligibility is confirmed. Members of the military have resources to help them vote, including the Military and Overseas Voters Empowerment (MOVE) Act. And the Brennan Center provides a comprehensive guide to help voters understand the rules for registering when they move.

To help make sure every vote counts, we must use the Election Administration Commission, a federal agency created after Florida’s 2000 election debacle, to create a national set of best election practices. The agency can ensure votes are counted accurately in every state, help plan and prepare for emergencies, and determine where to place and set up polling places and machines to reduce long lines.

The Brennan Center for Justice urges members of the House Administration Committee to reject bills to terminate the Electoral Assistance Commission and the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Read the letter here.

Concerns that fusion voting, which allows candidates to run on multiple lines for the same office, and a public financing program might jointly be unsustainable reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the policy works.

Recent Litigation

The Brennan Center and co-counsel Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP requested permission from the Court to intervene on behalf of California Common Cause in a lawsuit accusing California state and the County of Los Angeles of not purging voters aggressively enough from the rolls.

The Brennan Center filed a lawsuit against the State of Indiana on behalf of the Indiana NAACP and the League of Women Voters of Indiana, challenging a recently enacted law, Senate Bill 442, which violates the National Voter Registration Act’s protections against wrongful voter removals.